Compassion Is Patriotic: Go Veggie

On July 4th, the United States celebrates Independence Day. We mark
the anniversary of our country's birth in a number of ways, including
colorful fireworks displays, spirited parades and backyard barbecues.
Ironically, most of those Independence Day barbecues will feature the
remains of pigs, chickens, cows, sheep and other animals whose lives have
been anything but independent. Subjugated by humans and our desire for
cooked flesh, these animals are tightly confined in factory farms before
being crammed onto trucks for a merciless journey to the slaughterhouse and
a horrific death. Every year in this country, we kill 10 billion land
animals, simply because we want to eat them.

Many people are surprised to learn just how cruelly farmed animals are
treated. Meat-eaters would rather just devour the dead-animal parts and not
have to swallow the truth behind how they came to be. The reality is animals
raised for food are often denied adequate legal protection, enabling animal
agribusiness to treat these sensitive, intelligent creatures as meat-, egg-
and milk-producing machines. In order to make the most profit, industrial
livestock farmers confine animals to cages, crates or other small
enclosures, denying them their natural instincts. Pigs, for example, are
"grown" in crowded hog factories, the air filled with dust and noxious gases
produced by urine and feces. Inside these massive sheds, mother sows suffer
a continuous cycle of artificial insemination and birth. After being
impregnated, the sows are confined in metal gestation crates just two feet
wide. At the end of their four-month pregnancy, the sows are transferred to
narrow farrowing crates to give birth. The sows barely have room to stand up
and lie down, and they are deprived of straw bedding, which agribusiness
considers "too expensive."

Pigs and other farmed animals are subjected to practices so cruel they
would probably lead to criminal prosecution if those abuses were inflicted
upon dogs and cats. Mutilations such as castration, detoeing, debeaking,
dehorning, ear notching and tail docking are routinely carried out without
any pain relief.

Though some will say eating grilled hot dogs or barbecued chicken is as
much of a July 4th tradition as waving the Stars and Stripes, frankly,
that's not good enough. No animal deserves to be raised and slaughtered in
the name of "tradition." Moreover, history is filled with traditions and
entrenched practices that most people now recognize as shameful, such as
human slavery, child labor and gender or racial discrimination. Clearly,
we're capable of embracing more ethical and compassionate values, even if
that means challenging the status quo.

Cutting back on meat is also good for our country and the rest of the
planet in a number of ways. In 2006, for example, the United Nations
released a report showing that raising animals for food generates 40 percent
more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the cars, SUVs, trucks and airplanes
in the world combined. People who go vegetarian miss fewer days of work and
have fewer health problems, meaning that our nation's healthcare costs
decrease. Changing our diet would also help the hungry. It takes about 16
pounds of grain to produce one pound of meat. That grain would go much
farther feeding humans; indeed, if we were to divert the grain used in
livestock production to human use, there would be enough food for everyone
in the country –- and the world. The environmental cost of animal
agribusiness is also staggering, filling our waterways with pesticides,
antibiotics and the powerful growth hormones used on farmed animals. An EPA
report from 2004 states that chicken, hog and cattle excrement have polluted
35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states and contaminated groundwater in 17
states.

While I don't believe that avoiding meat on July 4th will solve our
nation's woes or make everyone who eschews flesh for 24 hours realize the
benefits of being vegan or vegetarian, sampling ethical eating does have the
power to transform us. By giving up meat for even one day, we realize just
how easy and delicious it can be -- and doing so may encourage us to try it
again and share it with others.

Enjoying a meat-free barbecue or picnic does not mean skimping on flavor;
it just means selecting the cruelty-free versions of our favorite foods.
Indeed, many of the meatless sausages, hamburgers, hot dogs and faux-chicken
breasts available today fool even most ardent meat-eaters. All you have to
do is try one. Replacing meat with a meat substitute is also good for our
bodies: Studies show that vegetarians are less likely to develop heart
disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, cancer (especially of the
colon and reproductive organs), mature-onset diabetes and gallstones. Plus,
meat-eaters are nine times more likely to be obese than vegans are.

As we commemorate our sovereignty on July 4th, please consider the
billions of animals who are denied life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. To learn how convenient and nutritious it is to celebrate this
holiday -- and every day -- with compassion, please visit
www.vegcooking.com and
www.tryveg.com.

Mark Hawthorne is the author of "Striking at the Roots: A Practical Guide
to Animal Activism" (O Books,
www.strikingattheroots.com). Mark adopted a vegetarian lifestyle soon
after an encounter with one of India's many cows in 1992 and went vegan a
decade later. He is now a committed animal activist who has engaged in
nearly every model of activism, from leafleting and tabling to protesting
and direct action. Currently, he is working with hundreds of other activists
on an historic ballot initiative that will ban the use of battery cages,
gestation crates and veal crates in California. Mark was a contributing
writer for Satya from 2004 until the magazine ceased publishing in June of
2007, and his articles, book reviews, essays and opinion pieces have also
appeared in Herbivore, VegNews, Vegan Voice, Hinduism Today, Utne.com and
many daily newspapers across the United States. Mark is a volunteer for
Animal Place, a vegan education center and sanctuary for farmed animals in
northern California, where he serves on the outreach advisory council. He is
also involved in rabbit rescue and lives with five rescued rabbits.

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